Recipes and food fun from Apt 3N

I had to make something vegetarian after my husband made me watch HBO’s Vice the other day. This particular episode was on the industrialization of the meat industry and man was it terrifying. The ghastly amounts of meat we eat day in day out. How the farm-to-table movement is essentially our savior if we want to reap the rewards of our earth in any sort of sustainable fashion. Scary stuff! But we can do our part by 1) supporting businesses like Honest Chops and local farmers market vendors that only source from sustainable farms and 2) eating less meat. There’s a world of protein out there (eggs! chickpeas! tofu!) explore!

If you’ve been trying to to eat less meat, or just eat/cook more vegetables at home, I’ve summarized some pointers for cooking veggies below. Luckily for you I’ve made so many mistakes when cooking veggies throughout the years I have some words of wisdom to impart, especially when dealing with cauliflower:

Don’t waste. I use the outer leaves as well as the florets. It’s often discarded in American cooking shows, but why the heck wouldn’t you eat it?I just toss the tough inner core, and finely chop the rest. Time consuming, but a worthwhile endeavor.

Dicing it into tiny tiny pieces is major key. Cauliflower can be bland, so the best way to ensure it absorbs as much flavor as possible, is by dicing it super small, increasing its surface area.

Sequence is also key. Once you start cooking vegetables regularly, you get a sense for which ones take longer to cook than others. Root vegetables like carrots, potatoes and turnips always take longest. Then onions, peppers and cruciferous veggies (broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, collard greens, kale, etc.). Finally, your tender greens (zucchini, spinach, peas).

Garlic is your best friend. With some veggie dishes like spinach or broccoli/mushroom stir fry, I’ll fry the garlic in the oil so it the flavor of the garlic diffuses through the dish. I only do this for quick cooking vegetables. If you try to do this in a dish like this, or potato hash, the garlic will simply burn. Thus I add it after the vegetables have had an initial cooking period.

anchovy paste is also a fun way to flavor your vegetables. It’s salty and nutty when dissolved in oil. A fun trick I learned in Italy.

The same guidance I gave for the garlic goes for the mustard seeds. Many recipes will say to first heat mustard seeds or pach phoron (Bengali 5 spice) in oil until they start to pop. Once again, because the total cook time for a stir fry with veggies in this quantity can go over 20 minutes, I wanted to avoid burning any of the elements.Hope you enjoy this Bengali staple and add it to your Meatless Monday menu. The zucchini at the end can be swapped out for many other vegetables. Growing up my mom would always keep a bag of frozen mixed vegetables, to add to a stir fry like this and really stretch a buck.

Serve with rice, daal, and any other protein of choice.

Ingredients

1/4 cup olive oil

1 large potato, diced small

1 head cauliflower, diced small

1 tsp mustard seeds

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 tsp salt

1 tsp turmeric

2 zucchini, diced small

2-4 green chilis, split down the middle

1/2 cup chopped cilantro, finely chopped

Directions

In a large wok, heat oil over medium high heat. Add the potatoes in a single layer, then the cauliflower on top of them. Allow to cook for 2-3 minutes without stirring.

After the potatoes have started to cook, stir to evenly distribute the cauliflower and potato, and add the mustard seeds, garlic, salt and turmeric. Depending on whether you like it spicy or not, add the chilis at this stage as well. Stir to combine and cook for 10-12 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the zucchini and continue to cook. If you like your feed less spicy, add your chilis now. Cook for an additional 7-8 minutes or until all the vegetables are tender. Take care to moderate the heat, and move the vegetables from the bottom of the wok to the top, so nothing browns excessively and all the veggies cook slowly.

Add the cilantro in the last minute of cooking. Taste for seasoning. I used a total of 2 3/4 tsp salt when I made this dish. Serve with white or brown rice.

If you follow my Snap or Instastories, you saw me make pull this soup together last night. I’ve been looking to finish up all the vegetables and herbs that I bought as a part of my Thanksgiving groceries, herbs that I don’t use very much apart from that day (sage, thyme, rosemary). In the version I made last night, I threw in the last of my turkey leftovers, but it didn’t add much to the soup, so the version here is without meat, and it’s delicious!

There is So. Much. Umami aka The 5th Flavor. From the rehydrated porcini mushroom stock, to the mushrooms, to the soy sauce. Hence the name. I didn’t want to just call it mushroom soup! There’s so much more! And then tang from the Ume Plum Vinegar – my FAVORITE ingredient these days to add flavor to pretty much anything. It just gives a nice fresh zip to foods, without overpowering like most vinegars.

My vegetables were on the smaller side: the carrots, celery, even the size of the mushroom package. So 8 cups liquid in total worked for me. Currently the soup can feed 4 adults. If you want to stretch the recipe to feed 6 comfortably, use larger carrots, celery and onion. Add another potato and 2 cups liquid – either stock or water.

Can easily be made vegan by using all oil, no butter, and water instead of chicken or turkey stock.

Directions

In a large glass measuring glass or bowl, place dried porcini mushrooms. Add hot water and allow to hydrate until ready for use.

In a large stock pot, melt butter and oil over medium high heat. Add onion, celery and carrot. Cook 4-5 minutes until soft. Add mushrooms and garlic. Cook together for another 2-3 minutes. Tie the thyme and bay leaf together with kitchen string. Add to the vegetables. Add salt and pepper to taste (I added about 1 tsp salt and half tsp pepper) and stir. Then place a wire mesh sieve over the pot and add the porcini stock, straining out the rehydrated porcinis (their flavor can be strong). Also add the vinegar and stock/water. Stir to combine.

Cover, raise the heat to bring to a boil, then reduce heat so it simmers for 15 minutes. When the potatoes have cooked through the soup is done. Add parsley, adjust seasoning, and serve.

The first time my husband had brussel sprouts, he boiled them, and ate them without any seasoning. This demonstrates the extent of his culinary abilities.

Since then, he’s swore he would never eat them.

Except one Thanksgiving when I roasted them til they were crisp outside, tender inside, and had a salty bite. That year, the brussel sprouts were cleaned up!! There wasn’t a single one left. As with most foods, proper preparation is key. Add some pomegranate arils and reduced pomegranate juice to the mix, and you get a perfect balance of salty/acidic/crispy/creamy.

I love the NY Times recipe, except I found cooking them at such a high temperature burned my tiny brussel sprouts! It may be because I roasted them on a rack placed on the lower third of the oven (I find that level works best for my cakes). I suggest cooking them at 375 degrees, then checking them at 30 minutes. If they look like they could use a bit more char, leave them in for 5 min longer.

These taste best when they have a salty bite, but if you’re watching sodium levels, start at 1/2 teaspoon salt and increase to taste.

Ingredients

1 lb brussel sprouts

1/2 to 3/4 tsp salt

2-3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 cup pomegranate juice

1/3 cup granulated sugar

3 tbsp pomegranate arils

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Wash and dry brussel sprouts well. With a small paring knife, trim off the bottom of each brussel sprout and slice them in half. Arrange them all on a large sheet pan lined with parchment paper and dress with the salt and oil. Mix to combine and spread out on sheet so they don’t steam, rather roast in the dry heat of the oven. Bake for 30-35 minutes.
2. In a small to medium sauce pan combined pomegranate juice with sugar. Bring to a boil over medium heat and turn the heat down to low. Simmer for about 25 minutes or until you have 1/4 cup of liquid left. Keep an eye as it might burn in the last few minutes.
3. Transfer roasted brussel sprouts to serving tray and add the pomegranate arils and drizzle some of the pomegranate reduction over the top. Taste for seasoning and adjust as necessary.

When was the last time you embarrassed yourself? Like reeally really embarrassed yourself? Well this recipe is from one such incident.

Let me take it back a few steps – have you ever been to a South Asian wedding? There are kids running around, loud aunties and uncles in technicolor outfits fighting over placement on the buffet line and general disorganization/mayhem.

Now – have you ever been to an American wedding? A Northeastern, Catholic wedding? Civilized, subdued, tasteful. Bride is in white. The events more or less stick to schedule. Not so many kids running around.

As a Bengali, this cultural difference just went over my head when I was invited to a friend’s wedding a couple of years ago. Not only did we show up to the wedding with uninvited kids in tow, we entered the church after the bride made her entrance. Afterwards, at the reception, the mother of the bride said to me, “So, you brought the kids” and then it dawned on me.

Oh. Shit. There weren’t chairs for them, so they sat on our laps until the venue could manage some. The reception was way past their bedtime so they were pretty much on meltdown mode the entire time. By the time we wrapped up dinner at 9 they were SO cranky we had to run out of there before my favorite part of any wedding: the dancing!

What does this story have to do with roasted acorn squash with quinoa pilaf? Just that we had it for dinner at said Northeastern wedding reception and it was surprisingly so good, I’m amazed it took me this long to recreate it.

The recipe for the quinoa pilaf is an adaptation of the America’s Test Kitchen version. It’s tasty on its own with the addition of a tablespoon of lemon juice.

For the quinoa pilaf

Directions

1. For the acorn squash: Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Cut the acorn squash down the middle, scoop out the seeds and fibrous parts with a spoon and discard. Place both halves on a baking sheet cut side up. Season with salt and spices then drizzle with oil. Rub the oil and seasonings all over the flesh. Bake in preheated oven for about 1 hour.
2. For the quinoa pilaf: In a medium saucepan, toast the quinoa over medium high heat, stirring frequently until quinoa is light brown and makes a popping noise. This will take about 5 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
3. In the same saucepan, melt butter over medium low heat. Add onion and salt and cook until onions soften, about 5 minutes. Add the quinoa, increase heat to high and add water. Allow to come to a boil, then cover, reduce heat to low and cook for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, uncover and fluff with a fork. Add herbs and mix together. Put the lid back and allow to continue to steam.
4. To serve, place one of the acorn squash halves on a plate, spoon some quinoa pilaf into the cavity, and top with goat cheese if desired.

My heart is hurting. The world is burning. There is no where I can go, or send my family members, that feels safe from natural disaster, disease or rampant violence. Perhaps this is the way it’s always been – just now we are hyper aware because we are hyper connected. The natural disaster stuff is not new. Climate change is. And as a Bangladeshi American, I worry about the effects of glacial melting for a sea-level country like Bangladesh. We already have climate refugees.

Disease is certainly not new (hello plague, small pox, measles and the like). But Planetary Health is. The deterioration of our forests and natural resources that previously acted as a barrier from infectious diseases rampant inside the wilderness.

And the violence. From mass shooters to terrorists to drone strikes. We’ve been killing one another since Cain and Abel. Yet for all our progress, our education, we can’t seem to teach one another empathy. We can be pro-life when it comes to matters of a woman’s right to make decisions, yet when it comes to the life of someone who looks a bit different from us, we only know to act in self preservation.

What does this have to do with these vegan “meatballs”? I’m not sure, except it is a Turkish recipe. And if a certain small handed, orange hued, and even smaller brained individual had his way, contributions like this (both culinary and non-culinary), would come to a halt for a certain period of time. We cannot let fear come in the way of this country’s most powerful asset: our pluralism. We must use our propensity for innovation to tackle this challenge we’ve never faced before: an ideological war. One with no national border, rather the exploitation of the disenfranchised, the bored, the feeble minded.

A wonderful cook and long time associate, Keri Egilmez, shared this recipe with me. You may remember her from the Samboosa recipe I shared a while back. These are not meant to satisfy your cravings for dark, rich, savory meatballs. They work best as an appetizer – light and lemony and the perfect finger food. Also works well over a bed of greens as a light lunch. Afiyet olsen!

Directions

Place the lentils in a medium saucepan and rinse under running water 2-3 times. Add 2.5 cups water and bring to a boil. Boil for 15 minutes or until all the water is soaked up. Add the bulgur to the pot, give it a stir, and cover until mixture is cool enough to handle.

In a large skillet or wok, heat oil over medium high heat. Add onion and cook until softened – 4 to 5 minutes. Add cumin and red pepper or tomato paste. Stir until combined then remove from heat. Add this mixture to the lentil/bulgur mixture.

Add the lemon juice, parsley, green onion and chili flakes, if using, to the mixture. Stir until everything is combined, then pinch off golf ball sized amounts and lightly press into an oblong shaped ball. Set aside. Continue until all of the mixture is made into kofte (balls).

Enjoy as is or wrapped in lettuce with a squeeze of lemon. Afiyet olsun!

Ramadan is coming up! I figured I should add a few more Ramadan friendly recipes to the blog, for those of us who are looking to depart a bit from the usual fried foods iftars. During these long summer days when we’re denying ourselves food and liquid for 15 hours straight, we need to treat our bodies well! This is a dish you can feel good about eating, that’s not going to make you crash before the long night of ibadah (prayers) you have lined up.

This recipe is based on one from Dorie Greenspan’s Around My French Table. I know a quinoa salad is not the first thing you think of when you consider French cuisine, but she’s filled her cookbook with things she makes for her family, without strictly adhering to a particular cuisine. In our hyperconnected world, it’s kind of impossible to resist influences from other regions. She’s got a Moroccan Tagine and carrot salad, small plates from her American upbringing, French pastries and traditional stews from her current residence. And she’s kind of an authority when it comes to food so I trust her with my quinoa!

I’ve taken a lot of liberties with her recipe though. First was to change the prep method for the quinoa. For some reason the package directions always tell you to cook it covered over low heat for about 15 minutes. That always gave me soggy quinoa. My way gives perfectly cooked and fluffy quinoa every time. Second, I nixed the ginger powder for cinnamon since I hate ginger and thought cinnamon would compliment the citrus. Third, I increased the fruit to nut ratio for my sugar loving palette. She suggests using any kind of dried fruits, nuts and herbs. I combined the dried fruits, nuts and herbs I thought would work best (dates, almonds and mint). You could also do raisins, pine nut and parsley. Or apricot, walnut and cilantro. It’s a vibrant, tasty way to prepare your quinoa that uses up the plethora of dates we often have lying around during Ramadan.

Directions

In a small saucepan, bring 3 cups of water to boil. Add quinoa and lower the heat to medium low. Cook for 12 minutes, uncovered, stirring occasionally. After the 12 min are up, turn off the heat and put the lid on. Let steam for 3 minutes, then fluff with a fork. Set aside.

Toast the almonds on a dry skillet over medium heat. Stir occasionally. When the nuts are light brown and fragrant, take off the heat and let cool.

Chop the mint and combine with the dates and nuts in a large bowl.

Make the vinaigrette: combine the orange juice, lemon juice, cinnamon, 1 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper and olive oil in a jar. Put the lid on and shake vigorously.

Add the quinoa and vinaigrette to the large bowl. Combine everything and taste for seasoning. Add more salt and pepper as needed.

I had a hankering for warm, comforting American dishes the other day. Creamy tomato soup. Potato leek soup. Corn chowder. Pan seared scallops. Flat bread dotted with goat cheese and herbs. Just things I wouldn’t usually make since there isn’t a huge appetite for these things in our household. Take exhibit A: potato leek soup. Despite my daughter’s proclamation that she LOVED THIS SOUP and my husband’s accolade, “this soup’s good, Jaan!”, they each had just one serving. Just one. So guess who else had ALL the remaining servings?Yours, truly, of course. When I was a work study (undergraduate doing an on-campus job) at Columbia Business School, I would go down to the cafeteria and scope out what I could afford. Back then, a small soup with crackers cost about $4.75. With tax, it came out to almost $6. Which was a lot for me to fork over for lunch. But a girl’s gotta eat. Neither the $3.50 muffin nor the $12 sandwiches weren’t good alternatives.

I looked at a bunch of different recipes before diving into this. I knew I wanted to caramelize the leeks a bit. I knew I didn’t have chicken stock on hand, and not even the full amount of vegetable stock needed for this amount. I knew despite all the different herbs I read people used, I wanted to use dry thyme (one of my favorite pantry items since it adds such a lovely aroma and flavor and I could sense my kids associating its scent with my cooking), and rosemary. Finally, I knew I didn’t want to have a big huge batch because something told me I’d be eating 90% of it.

So I halved the amounts I read in other recipes, I sautéed the veggies a bit longer, and I used a combo of vegetable stock and water. Depending on the type of vegetable stock you use, your color will vary. Mine was the low sodium one from Trader Joe’s. Made from carrots, tomatoes, among other vegetables. Thus imparting an orange hue to a normally off-white soup. The type of vegetable stock you use will also affect the seasoning required, so make sure to add just enough salt and pepper until it’s really really tasty. I didn’t put rosemary in the soup directly. I thought the presentation and flavor would be more pronounced with an infused oil added at the very end. Take that, winter.

Ingredients

2 tbsp olive oil

2 leeks, dark ends trimmed

4 Yukon gold potatoes (about 1 pound), diced into large chunks

1/2 tsp salt (plus more to taste)

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1 bay leaf

1 1/2 cups vegetable stock*

2 1/2 cups water

1 cup cream

1 tbsp creme fraiche (optional)

1/4 cup olive oil

1 clove garlic

1 sprig rosemary

Directions

Slice ends off of leeks and slice down the middle lengthwise. Rinse well to get rid of the dirt in between all the layers. Thinly slice into about 1/4 strips. Heat oil in a large pot (stainless steel or enameled both work) over medium high heat. Add leeks and dried thyme. Sauté until leeks are softened (6 to 8 minutes). Add the potatoes, salt and pepper. Stir to coat all the vegetables in the seasonings. Add stock, water and bay leaf and bring to a boil. Lower the heat, put the lid on and cook for about 20 minutes, until potatoes are tender.

Once the potatoes are tender, turn off heat and remove the bay leaf. Purée the mixture with an immersion blender, or in batches in a blender. Put the pot with the puree back on medium heat. Add the cream and creme fraiche if using. Stir. When mixture comes to a boil, stir and taste for seasoning. Add more seasoning as required and remove from heat.

Make the rosemary garlic oil: in a small saucepan, combine olive oil, garlic clove (smashed with the palm of your hand or side of a knife) and rosemary. Cook over low heat, allowing the garlic and rosemary to gently infuse the oil. Remove from heat when fragrant, about 5 minutes.

Ladle the soup in a shallow bowl. Drizzle with a bit of oil and a dollop of more creme fraiche, if desired.

*Can use chicken stock. Can nix the water and use all stock instead. One and half cups was how much I had on hand, so that’s what I used.

I have a officially regressed from my diet of quinoa salads, eggs, oatmeal, and fruits/veggies. Size 2 – it was nice knowing you!

But let’s talk about the shrooms here. People can get downright militant when it comes to mushrooms: Don’t wash them!! Don’t crowd the pan!! Don’t season them too early!! All advice I’ve taken to heart many a time. And as much as I love properly sautéed mushrooms with bits of brown butter speckling the surface and all the right caramelization in all the right places, these mushrooms fare perfectly fine all in one pan, with leeks and all! And not just “fine”. How can I explain to you how well mushrooms and leeks pair without going into a series of clichéd analogies? Let’s try some non-clichés. Mushrooms are to leeks as

What is key here is to not skimp on the black pepper. Of course the pasta itself, the mushrooms and leeks have to be properly season. But reminiscent of the classical Roman dish, Cacio e Pepe, the flavors of this dish shine with a balanced contribution of Parmigiano Reggiano and Parsley, but with much stronger addition of ground black pepper. This coming from a girl who HATED black pepper growing up. Oh, how we change!

Ingredients

2 tbsp olive oil

2 leeks, rinsed and sliced (if you don’t have leeks, you can use half a yellow onion, diced, but try to add green onions or chives at the end for that verdant, mild onion flavor)

Directions

In a large pot, heat 4 to 6 quarts of water over high heat.

While the water is coming to a boil, prep your veggies. When veggies are cleaned, sliced, and ready, heat oil in a large sauté pan or wok over medium high heat. Add the leeks and cook until tender, 2 to 3 minutes.

By this point, the water should have come to a boil. Add salt, and a drizzle of oil (fettucine tends to stick together!) and let cook for 12 to 13 minutes (follow the instructions on the box. Barilla is my pasta of choice.)

Back to the pan: move the leeks off to the sides and add the mushrooms to the center of your pan (or wherever the hot spot is on your burner). Add garlic, salt and pepper (start out with 1/2 tsp each at first). Sauté with the leeks until cooked down and moisture has evaporated, about 10 minutes. Moderate the heat so the veggies don’t burn. Add cream and let cook for 1-2 minutes. Then add cooked pasta, using tongs to transfer from the pot to the pan. Toss well. Add grated Parmigiano and parsley and combine well. Add up to 1 cup of the pasta cooking water if it’s looking too dry (start out with 1/2 cup). Check for seasoning.

Is rhubarb out of season yet? I am way behind with this post, I know. I have been behind on life, in general, as of late. So even though I made my husband track down rhubarb when the season for it first came around (it is surprisingly difficult to find around these parts) and serendipitously also had some delicious, though overripe, Haitian mangoes on hand to make this weeks ago…I am only now sharing it with you. Sad face.

I know the combination of rhubarb, overripe mangoes, anise seeds and mustard oil aren’t ingredients most people have on hand most of the time. But as we near the end of rhubarb season, I hope you can still attempt to make this chutney. Or at least save it for next year.

I know most people tend to make some sort of rhubarb/strawberry pastry this time of year but something strange has happened to me recently. My sweet tooth has faded. Maybe I’ve made one too many cookies. But for some reason, butter rich, sugar filled treats just don’t give me the same satisfaction it used to. Not to say I’ve shunned them for good. I still taste test what I make and indulge when I go out with my girlfriends. Anyway, I was looking for something a bit more savory, and palatable for the rest of the clan. This was probably one of my most successful experimentations. It was annihilated at my in-laws’. Reduced to half in my own home overnight. It just hit every note. Admittedly, there is a lot of sugar in this, but only because the rhubarb was so darn tart. I don’t regularly have rhubarb, I don’t know if they range in tartness, but the tartness of this batch rivaled any lemon. If yours is less tart, feel free to start out with a smaller amount of sugar, and add more as needed.

Ingredients

1 tbsp mustard oil

1 pinch anise seeds or pach forom

1/2 red onion, diced

3 stalks of rhubarb, leaves and ends trimmed, diced into 1 in pieces

4-5 dried red chilis (less for mild heat)

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 1/2 tsp salt

pulp of 2 overripe mangoes, preferably the haitian variety

Directions

Heat oil over medium high heat in a medium saucepan. Add the anise seeds or pach forom and fry until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the onions and cook until translucent. Add rhubarb, chilis, sugar, vinegar, salt and mango pulp. Stir and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cover.

I did it! I conquered the quinoa! I thought about ways to desi-fy it since practically anything cooked in a curry sauce in this house gets consumed in minutes. Since I had this bag of frozen spinach in the fridge, I thought about doing a take on the classic palak paneer, replacing the protein in the form of paneer (cheese) with quinoa.

Before you cringe at the thought of sullying your favorite buttery, cheesy spinach dish with healthy food, keep in mind – it passed my taste test! In fact as I ate it throughout the week (the hubby helped – though the kids did not), and even went on to make French green lentils with the leftover vegetable stock, I really started acquiring a taste for these plant based proteins. When I had chicken after about two weeks, the poultry smell actually bothered me! Not to say I’m going vegan on you guys. No no no no. As I experiment with South Asian flavors and new ingredients, I’m excited to share some of the things I’ve been whipping up. On a side note: apparently the casual and sometimes excessive usage of the word “excited” or “exciting” is a uniquely American colloquialism. I found this out while reading the supremely entertaining and insightful novel Americanah about two Nigerians, following their lives in their home country and abroad. It reminds me a bit of The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, about a chubby Dominican kid growing up in the states. Both these novels do such a great job of relating the immigrant experience, part universal, part relative to their specific ethnic group. They overshadow most novels in that genre (recall the overly saccharine images of the Mama Ganguli making her holiday cards or the tired “behind the veil” stereotypes offered by Hosseini). I digress. I used tricolor quinoa for a nice balance of nutty and earthy flavors. The main difference between this preparation and past failed attempts at quinoa was SALT AND PEPPER. After cooking in the low sodium vegetable broth, it was OK. After seasoning to taste, I was like, “I could get used to this.” And the spinach puree, though not plated very well here, was amazing. Pair it with any of your favorite proteins (salmon, grilled chicken breast, etc.). I added a dollop of yogurt to balance the deep seated flavor, but you can add sour cream, creme fraiche or nothing at all!

Ingredients

1 cup quinoa, rinsed

2 cups vegetable broth

2 tbsp light olive or vegetable oil

a pinch of cumin seeds

a pinch pach forom (optional)

1/2 yellow onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 12oz bag frozen spinach

2 green chilis

1/8 tsp ginger powder (or raw ginger, minced)

1 bay leaf

3/4 tsp kosher salt

2 tbsp water

Directions

In a small saucepan, bring the quinoa and vegetable broth (or chicken stock) to a boil. Let simmer for 10 to 15 minutes until the ring pops out of the quinoa. When it’s done, season with kosher salt and pepper (about 3/4 tsp and 1/2 tsp respectively). Set aside

In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium high heat. Add the cumin seeds and pach forom, if using, and let it warm through until fragrant, about 60 seconds. Add onions and saute until translucent (about 4 min). Add garlic and chilis. Stir to combine. Then add the frozen spinach, breaking up clumps with your wooden spoon. When it’s manageable, add the remaining ingredients. Let simmer, covered, for 5-7 min.

Remove one of the green chilis and a bay leaf. You can always add the second chili to the puree if you like it hotter. Carefully add the spinach mixture to a blender and blend, covered, until smooth. Add water as necessary to thin it out. WARNING: (In case you are as inexperienced with the blender as I am)I made mine a bit too thin by attempting to blend it with the “Smoothie” function. “Ice Crush” did a much better job, but it was too late, I added the extra water already.